Saxifraga cortusifolia 'Gelbes Monster'

[Regelian]

I added three of these Autumn blooming Saxifraga cortusifolia cultivars in the Spring.  Being new to me, I had no idea where I should plant them, so I placed them in the woodland area of the garden.  Apparently the right choice, as they like moisture, but that elusive good drainage.  Only one has bloomed, 'Gelbes Monster', which translates to Yellow Monster.  I had expected it to have more yellow colouring and slightly fringed petals, but it may simply be too young.  Anyone know this cultivar?

jamie

[Lesley Cox]

Quite new to me Jamie, but it looks a very attractive plant. Presumably the foliage is like that of Cortusa?

[Regelian]

Lesley,

the foliage makes a small mound and is fleshy, but not designed for lots of sun.  Yes, similar to cortusa, being round with a slightly waved edge. Some cultivars have reddish foliage, other are a nice, clear yellowish-green to olive. I'll try to post a picture of the full plant later.

jamie

[kris]

Hi
I am kris and a new member. my interest is alpine garden but I am just starting. I am originally from india but living in Saskatoon for number of years. I am particularly  interested in Saxifrages  and anybody know what are  the hardy species  to this area.please help me.

[Maggi Young]

Hello, Kris, a warm welcome to the Forum 

I'm not sure  but I think it gets pretty cold in Saskatoon, huh?  You'll need the advice of some of our Canadian forumists to help you out ,I think.
I can recommend the book by SRGC member, Malcolm McGregor on Saxifrages, if you are looking for some reading matter? Author: Malcolm McGregor  Title: Saxifrages  ISBN: 9780881928808     
And, do you know about this website:
http://www.saxifraga.org/aboutus/default.htm

[Lesley Cox]

My gosh, India to Saskatoon must have been a shock to the system. But the welcome to the Forum Kris, is a very warm one.

[Lori S.]

Hi, Kris, and welcome to the site!  
Although while I lived in Saskatchewan, I was not yet involved in alpine gardening, I have no doubt that you will find a great number of Saxifraga (and other alpines) to be hardy there.  Your winters have more sustained cold periods than here (also zone 3; Calgary), but the generally more reliable snow cover there may compensate for it.  (On the other hand, you will have to be a little more careful to provide drainage, so that the snow melt in spring doesn't accumulate and cause rotting.)

If you would like to see some saxifrages that winter successfully here (only as a starter - please recognize that I'm only scratching the surface of possibility... but someday...  , I've posted some photos at the NARGS (North American Rock Garden Society) photo site.  Other people have also posted from similar zones, so I hope you feel encouraged!
http://www.nargs.org/nargswiki/tiki-browse_gallery.php?galleryId=18

[Maggi Young]

Thanks for the link, Lori.
Worth drawing attention to the many developments happening in the NARGS website, most notably the WIKI area... http://www.nargs.org/nargswiki/tiki-index.php     
Apart from anything else, the thought of a WIKI TIKI.... which translates for me immediatelty to "Riki Tiki Taavi" the old tale of the Mongoose, just has to be one of the catchiest names ever!

[Tony Willis]

here is one of my two cortusifolia in flower now. It has very bronze leaves now but earlier these were a very nice grey with mottling.